<!--IPTC: BOSTON - OCTOBER 14: Evan Longoria #3 of the Tampa Bay Rays warms up before game four of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox during the 2008 MLB playoffs at Fenway Park on October 14, 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)-->

Indeed, Rockies’ management thought hard about selecting the power-hitting third baseman with the No. 2 pick in the 2006 draft. Instead, they chose right-handed starting pitcher Greg Reynolds, leaving Longoria available for Tampa Bay with the next pick.

“Absolutely we had interest in Longoria,” Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said Wednesday. “It was much talked about, and we went back and forth, between taking a pitcher and taking a position player.”

Just 18 months later, Longoria is the catalyst for a team on the brink of one of the most shocking turnarounds in baseball history. A victory over the Red Sox tonight in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series puts the Rays in the World Series. Last spring, they were a 150-1 longshot to make it.

The quick development of a number of young players, most notably Longoria, have put the Rays on the verge of history. Just six days after being promoted to the big-league club in mid-April, the Rays handed Longoria a six-year contract, with club options that could potentially make the deal worth $44 million over nine years.

Longoria, 23, paid that trust back by becoming an all-star slugger. His playoff performance has been nothing short of astonishing. He homered in his first two postseason at-bats and has five postseason homers, a rookie record.

“It’s pretty unbelievable how far we have come and what this club has done,” Longoria said. “We’ve really proved a lot of people outside looking in how good we really have become.”

Longoria is having the type of impact shortstop Troy Tulowitzki had for the Rockies a year ago, when he helped them to a World Series appearance. The tie to Tulo goes much deeper. Longoria was a star shortstop in high school and community college. When he transferred to Long Beach State, the position was taken, by Tulo. Longoria switched to third base.

In college, they talked about making the move up to the big leagues together. The dream combo of Longoria and Tulo side by side in a major-league infield never materialized, O’Dowd said, because the Rockies already had Garrett Atkins and Ian Stewart lined up to play third for years to come. So the Rockies drafted who they thought was the best pitcher available, Reynolds.

“We liked Evan, obviously, but we didn’t see him as a second baseman as a lot of others were projecting him,” O’Dowd said.

While Longoria is already in full bloom, the Rockies are still waiting for Reynolds to blossom. After shoulder surgery in 2007, he made his big-league debut in 2008 and showed flashes of the talent he displayed at Stanford, but he struggled to command his sinking fastball. He got hit hard at season’s end, dropping his record to 2-8 with an 8.13 ERA.

Longoria, meanwhile, is a heavy favorite for American League rookie of the year. The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder led all rookies with 27 home runs and a .531 slugging percentage, two of the highest marks ever for a rookie third baseman.

“We didn’t have a time frame for him, but we knew he was a good hitter and could hit for power,” O’Dowd said.

But it’s more than raw numbers that have impressed Longoria’s teammates. His maturity and passion are what struck first baseman Carlos Peña, who at age 30 is an elder statesman in a young clubhouse.

“He’s a kid who takes nothing for granted, and he understands how blessed he is to be in the big leagues,” Peña said. “At the same time, he knows this is the same game he played in high school and college. To have that type of mentality at his age and to be able to stay within himself so well is what’s impressed me.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyreek Hill didn’t know what to do when he started hearing thousands of people in Arrowhead Stadium chanting his name, even as he stood all alone on the frozen turf waiting for the punt.